From the Fwd Box: Confused? Comparing the Spin on the Candidates

Fri. Sep. 12, 09:53am EST

From the Fwd Box:

I don't know who wrote the following article that was forwarded to me today, but I think whoever wrote this hit the nail right on the head. The Republican spin machine is up to its usual tricks of managing to take the most ridiculous positions with a straight face. The following Fwd is making the rounds on the internet.

Confused?

I ' m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you ' re "exotic, different."

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you ' re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you' re a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate ' s Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran ' s Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country ' s second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you' re not a real Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you' re a true Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state ' s school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family' s values don' t represent America ' s.

If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn' t register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA , your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Comments

Joe Spears Sat. Sep. 13, 09:46am EST#1

Spin? lots of it in there. All counter spin too.

These types of "pseudo-fact" and inbox drivel is one way I think the internet is harming the political process. Virtually every one of those statements are misleading at best and at worst lies of omission.

Now you can go right ahead continue to try and beat Bush and now Palin, but I have some news for you, your running against McCain. Arguing over who is more qualified Obama or Palin only bring the focus to the headliners resumes.

david Sat. Sep. 13, 03:21pm EST#2

I agree with Joe that the Dems are spending too much time on Palin. She is enough of a mess all by herself. I do think that as the public learns who she is, she will continue to prove an embarrassment to her party and if nothing else, her choice as VP running mate shows an example of John McCain's poor judgment.

I do think the contrast in family life between McCain and Obama is relevant to character (not necessarily Christianity.)

Joe Spears Sat. Sep. 13, 10:17pm EST#3

Hold up a bit, I think she is far from a mess. But keep it up, ya'll will make her a sympathetic figure yet.

You fail to see her popular appeal, she is not come off as professional politician with an ivy league degree. We are sick of those types.

Incompetent? Not really. She spike his numbers. He has (like this post proves) diverted a significant portion of his oppositions base to attacking the VP candidate with largely baseless attacks.

david Sat. Sep. 13, 10:26pm EST#4

that's what we need, a vice-president whose best assets are sympathy and diversion

Joe Spears Sat. Sep. 13, 10:46pm EST#5

For crying out load. She has the qualifications. You just don't like republicans. Let us just man up and realize this Palin business is just an extension of the left's "BDS".

david Sat. Sep. 13, 11:13pm EST#6

For the record, Joe, what I don't like are turnips and snakes. I don't, however, have any party affiliations and have not decided what I will do November 3rd. Palin has real issues that have nothing to do with the current president and the choice of her as a running mate has indeed made me less likely to vote for McCain. Yes, there are a lot of people who dislike the current president, and some are probably deranged. Many years from now, history will judge his presidency without emotional influence. I am more interested in making the best choice I can make for the future and to that end I appreciate hearing honest discussion from you and others who can help me understand the complex political landscape. You and I have more in common than you realize (check the political compatibility) Turnips anyone?

Joe Spears Sun. Sep. 14, 12:44am EST#7

My previous post may have been a tad harsh. The phraseology used by yourself echoed of illogical prejudgment and caused my “smack him” reflex muscle twitch. My apologies.

And for the record I voted for Clinton (the first one, not this latest one) -- twice. and I voted for Bush -- twice.

But I have looked at her record, McCain's Record, Obama's record, and Biden's record. All have steep political leanings to one side or the other.

The items listed in mass mailings such as this one are pure smear and do not rise to the level of real isues, unless you disagree with her leanings. For example being pro-life is only a flaw to one with a pro-choice slant. But those are disagreements on issues, not true flaws. Nor does having the opinion make one evil.

I have found no credible instance where she has committed any crime, defrauded anyone, and from what I can see she has been a straight forward as any candidate can be. She has been far from an embarrassment to her party, if anything she a united the GOP. I have seen nothing to substantiate the embarrassment point of view.

But there is an awful lot of lies like this stuff our there that only serves one purpose: inflame those that have BDS. Why do you think “more of the same”, “Bush 2.0”, and “McSame” get so much play?

I am intellectually honest enough with myself to call my fellow McCain supporters out when they forward the same anti-Obama lies about the net like they were fact.

I go back to things I have said before: Bush will not win this next election. The Dems are running against a straw man that they have created, and once they are done burning it down they can start running against the McCain-Palin ticket.

david Sun. Sep. 14, 04:05pm EST#8

Joe, no offence taken.

I despise smear tactics, and agree with McCain who said in 2000 "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those."

I agree with you that Palin has united the party. It will help McCain with the group that hurt him in 2000. Her addition to the ticket has even gotten James Dobson (Focus on the Family head who said this spring that if McCain was the nominee he would just not vote) to now say he was ready to 'pull that lever' for McCain/Palin. I would find this fascinating except he always acts as if there is only one issue in any campaign.

Forget for a moment her statement that she was going to be against earmarks (look at her record) or the Bridge stuff. Has any previous presidential candidate named a VP candidate who was currently under an ethics investigation? I’m not aware of any, but I am far from an expert.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to be Biden tonight.

Zeke Murrah Mon. Sep. 15, 12:49pm EST#9

What a wonderfully spirited discussion. I'd add that one of the reasons that Palin has been such a shrewd selection by McCain is the fact that not only did she ignite the group of Republicans that, as David pointed out, "hurt him in 2000," but that she has continued to fan that flame be becoming the object of the media and the Dems' wrath.

When Joe says that harsh dismissal/criticism of Palin is a symptom of BDS, he is right. And, as a Republican, I hope it continues. McCain could be smeared, pilloried, etc., and no Republican would notice. (During one of their debates in 2000, McCain even called out W on belittling his military service and torture in Hanoi, yet W got the nod.) For whatever reasons, though, those fly-over state people who cling to God and guns and who voted for W over McCain in 2000 just seem ready to fight back against the vitriol getting hurled at Palin.

Maybe the fact that she's a woman and a mother are part of the equation, but the more the media puts down Palin, the more support she seems to be getting from people who want to defend her and the values she represents to them, to identify with her and those values. If the election were today, there would be a lot of people who, when they pulled the lever for McCain, would be in their minds voting for Palin over Obama, who is seen as the darling of the same media that is trying to demean Palin and the values she stands for. They'll fight for her.

I guess, then, that the Palin selection gives the public two candidates to vote for on the GOP ticket. Many feeling disenfranchised with McCain because of culture war issues can find in Palin their champion. I don't think Biden does this at all for Obama, giving credence to Palin's comment that Obama regrets not picking Clinton as his running mate. McCain had the votes of dutiful Republicans already; now he has the votes of a lot of right-leaning evangelicals, especially in the South--those same voters who had been so catered to in recent decades with so many candidates from the South--and who had pinned their hopes on Huckabee or Fred Thompson. They now have their candidate to get behind; she's just from a state that was not a state until long after the end of the old Confederacy.

Add comment

« Return to Bill Pfeifer's Political Blog

Campaign Trail

Groups

Bill Tracker

William L Pfeifer, Jr.

Democratic – Alabama